The Dog Days of... Winter? [Solo]

by **Sitkanis** on December 30th, 2010, 6:16 am

OOCI got permission from Adalia to use her doggy in this thread :3

Timestamp: 5th of Winter, 510 AV
Purpose: Watching Tempest for Adalia

Work was heating up at the chapel for Adalia and like all smart girls in a commited relationship she called on her loving boyfriend to help her out. Of course Sitkanis raced to Adalia's aid willing to help the Konti out in any way possible. Sadly, instead of getting to spend the day with her he found himself sitting on the front steps of the chapel with Adalia's large white Ivaski, Tempest. Sitkanis had been eyeing this dog since the day he met Adalia but he never spent one on one time with the large canine. Luckly in his day time form he towered over the normally large dog. While Tempest was around the same height as her companion Adalia she was dwarfed by Sitkanis' six foot height. He looked over at the large dog and sighed. He was not sure what to do with her. According to Adalia Ivaski were a bit more advanced than other dogs. "So Tempest, what do you want to do?" He asked more to just break the silence between the two than to actually hear an answer from the dog. She looked over at him and wagged her tail. It was a good sign at least. It showed she did not hate him. He often worried that Tempest might hate him for getting so close to Adalia. He held his hand out to the large dog letting her decided whether she was going to react. He knew now dogs opperated. It was one of the strange facts that stuck with him after his fall. Tempest whipped her tail and looked down at his hand as if she was debating whether to react to him. "It's okay Tempest. I know you might have some beef with me for getting so close to Adalia." Tempest let out a curt bark as if she was agreeing with him and whipped her tail again. He held his hands up and chuckled. "I know, I'm sorry. I promise I'll take good care of her though." Tempest seemed unphased at the comment though and rose to her feet and shook out her fur. She leaned down on her front paws and stretched out her back with a yawn. Without a moment of notice she trotted off away from the chapel wagging her tail behind her. Sitkanis, not knowing what to do with the dog, stayed seated and looked at her strutting away. As if she knew he was watching her she stopped and looked over at him. She barked at him as if she was telling him to follow. Sitkanis could not remember his past dog ever acting like this. Of course he could not remember much about his past dog nor was that dog an Ivaski. Sitkanis got to his feet and walked over to Tempest but the moment he got to her she started to strut away again. Not knowing what else to do, Sitkanis followed. He did not want to imagine what Adalia would do to him if he lost her dog. Besides, it was becoming blantantly obvious that he was easily swayed by the females of Mura.

The Ethaefal followed Tempest until she stopped at the beach. "Here?" Sitkanis talked to the dog as if he expected her to answer but he knew full well she would not. He could not understand animals and he was not able to take advantage of Tempest's telepathic ability. Tempest trotted out onto the sand and stood at the water line. Sitkanis looked at the water skeptically and kept his distance. He was not the biggest fan of the water due to the fact he could not swim. "Tempest! Get back over here!" He patted his knees in an attempt to get the dog to return to him but she curtly replied with a high pitched bark. She turned and scratched at the ice and whined. He looked at her confused and called to her again. "Come here Tempest! The water is frozen! You can't go in." Tempest would not have it. She turned away from him and began to claw at the water again. When her attempts to get at the water failed she let out a sorrowful howl. "What in Leth's name is going on with this dog?" He sighed and walked to her side. The water was frozen so it would not pull him in. This fact did not stop him from being a bit scared though. He tried to relax and let his Djed flow so he could read Tempest's aura. What looked like a light pink mist started to form around the dog. It appeared to be the color of coral and hugged the dog tightly as it floated. She let out a howl again and the mist turned a cloudy grey. He knew what it was now. Tempest missed Mura. She was clawing at the ice to try to get to the water. He knelt down beside her and placed his hand on her back and pet her. "I'm sorry Tempest. I wish I could help." The mist seemed to change colors quickly as he pet her. At first it turned ridged and red as if warning him to pull his hand away. She was not welcoming his touch. Then the colors seemed to slide down the color wheel as the mist changed from ridged spikes to the calm mist it had been when she was clawing at the ice. Finally it settled to a purple-ish blue and it swirled around her and seemed to hug his wrist where his hand came in contact with her back. Was this her accepting him? He placed his hand on her head and began to pet her. She simply sat down and looked out at the frozen water. It was understandable that Tempest would take a bit of work. She only wanted what was best for her companion. "Tempest, I had a dog once. Her name was Nekara. She was smaller than you and she was a very good hunter... at least I believe she was." He hated that he could never remember anything. He sat down next to the large dog and looked out into the icy ocean like she was. "I bet Mura is beautiful." Tempest's ears flicked at the mention on the word. She let out a little woof in response and shuffled on her front paws. He ran his hand down her neck and smiled. "I'll take that as a yes I suppose." He looked out at the frozen water and played with Tempest's fur between his fingers. "I had a home a long time ago as well. It was not very wet though. It had grass and horses." He continued to pet Tempest and closed his eyes. Behind closed lids he saw Nekara's furry brown face peeking out at him through a patch of thick grass. It was so vivid, almost as if he had seen it just the day before. In his mind he heard her sweet little bark and he could feel her thick her running through his fingers. She danced through the grass like a ballerina but hunted like a wolf. In his thick daydream he swore he could feel her tounge licking his palm to give him canine kisses. No, this feeling was real. His eyes shot open to see Tempest licking his hand. "Hey little lady, take me out to dinner first." Tempest looked at him and cocked her head. Her pointed ears twitched up and down as she looked at him curiously. "I'm joking. Thank you for the kisses Tempest." Her tail wagged and she began to tentitively sniff at his face. "Hello..." Suddenly a pink tounge rasped over his cheek and left a slobery trail in it's wake. "Well I'm glad we are on better terms now." He laughed as he whiped his cheek clean of dog drool.

Although Sitkanis did not notice it Tempest could tell more about him than he thought. He knew to some degree that Ivaski were more intellegent than other dogs but he did not know to what extent. These dogs were smarter than some setient species and they were gifted with the ability to feel empathy. Of course this empathy was not as strong between the Ethaefal and Tempest due to the fact Sitkanis was not a Konti nor part of the Opal Order. She could tell from his words that Sitkanis truly missed Nekara. She did the only thing she could do and that was to give comfort to a man who needed a friend, man's best friend to be exact.

by **Sitkanis** on February 28th, 2011, 2:50 am

"Come here Tempest." Sitkanis patted his lap and smiled as the large white dog scampered over to him. He ran his fingers through her thick white fur and thought of Adalia. He could not help but he envious of the dog. She had known Adalia far longer than Sitkanis did. "You are a lucky girl, you know that? Adalia is a fantastic woman, you were blessed to be able to travel with her." Tempest's tail wagged and she gave a little pant. He frowned and looked out to the sea. He wanted to write Adalia something. He wanted something that would show how much he loved her. He was never a man of many words and those words were rarely poetic. "What should I do for Adalia to show her what I am feeling?" Tempest let out a little wavering howl. It sounded almost as if she was trying to sing a note. Sitkanis smiled. He as not sure if singing would be the best thing to do. He had never attempted singing and he was not sure he would even be good at it. "Well first I would need a rhyme and a rhythm. That is how songs go… right?" He began to hum. He did not know what he was humming. Maybe it was some song long lost in his memory.

"I never thought I would find love
But Adalia is love to me
I had to fall from the skies above
To know what love could be…"

Sitkanis looked over at Tempest who gave him a small, encouraging bark. "It feels wrong Tempest. Men don't write soppy poetry for women." She flattened her ears against her head and growled. Sitkanis held his hands up like he was surrendering and gave an awkward smile. "Sorry Tempest." She let out a little hmph and laid her head on his lap. He cleared his throat and attempted to sing the words.

"In Denval I found her
She is so beautiful
Now all other memories are a blur
And my memory is full."

A small whine came from Tempest as she pawed at her ear. Sitkanis glared at her. "Sorry if I am not as good of a singer as you would like." Tempest shook out her thick fur and stood up. She began to pad away with nothing but a short woof to alert Sitkanis to follow. "Women…"

by **Paragon** on December 20th, 2011, 12:28 am

Sitkanis :

I know you said it was short and old, but I enjoyed it all the same. The bond between man and his best friend is just beautiful - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.